UC-NRLF 


RA 

-Rs- 


lllllll 


B    3    fl43    T2D 


ill 
illlliliiii 

iip 


RIGHT  LIVl 


^f •'ail  Ml 

ELLEN  H.:iyi 


LIBRARY 

OK  THE 

University  of  California, 


roBLIC 
Class  ^^^^ 


THE    ART    OF    RIGHT    LIVINCx 


The  Art  of  Right  Living 


By  Ellen  H.  Richards 


"  It  is  not  birlh  rates  that  want  raising, 
but  Ideals." 

Mankind  in  the  Making, 
H.  (;.  Wells 


Whitconib  &  Barrows 
Boston,  1904 


4i 


PUBLi  ' 
HEALTH 
LBEIART 


Copyright,   1904 
ELLEN    IL   RICHARDS 


Composition  and  Kht-lrotyping  hy 
Thomas  Todd,  14  Ihuori  Strei-f,  Hoston,  Mass. 


A  Condensation  of  a  Course  of  Lectures 
Given  at  the  Summer  School  of  the  South, 
Knoxville,  Tennessee,  June  to  July,  1904 


6  The  Art  of  Right  Living 

Besides  this  appalling  slaughter,  three 
thousand  to  five  thousand  deaths  annually 
in  each  large  city,  we  have  to  consider  what 
Mr.  Wells  aptly  calls  the  partial  death  rate, 
"  that  dwarfing  and  limiting  of  an  innumer- 
able host  of  children  who  do,  in  an  under- 
fed and  meager  sort  of  way,  survive."  No 
other  living  thing  is  so  weighted  with  the 
load  of  mere  living  as  is  the  human  being. 

The  loss  in  working  power  to  the  state 
is  indicated  by  the  undersize  of  the  adults 
who  have  to  suffer  a  handicap  loss  of  from 
fifteen  to  twenty  pounds  in  weight  and  three 
inches  in  height  due  to  poor  nutrition  and 
unsanitary  surroundings. 

America  is  said  to  worship  efficiency,  but 
this  worship  has  not  included  the  human 
being,  that  self-developed  machine  whose 
"  duty "  is  a  thousand  times  more  valuable 
than  that  of  any  man-made  machine. 

In  these  pages  we  shall  consider  the 
factors  which  go  to  make  up  the  efficient 
human  individual,  and  treat  these  factors 
also  with  reference  to  their  development  in 
school  life,  for  it  is  to  the  formation  of  right 
habits  in  the  child  that  we  must  look  for 
improvement. 


The  Art  of  Rig  Jit  Living  7 

To  the  teachers  of  manual  training  and 
of  domestic  science  we  must  look  for  help 
along  these  lines.  Indeed,  it  may  well  be 
claimed  that  the  latter  subject  especially  has 
its  justification  in  its  golden  opportunity  to 
emphasize  the  fundamentals  of  wholesome 
living. 

If,  as  is  sometimes  claimed,  the  scientif- 
ically trained  man  is  to  lead  the  world  to 
better  things,  he  must  secure  a  suitable 
environment  for  himself.  Therefore  the 
attention  of  the  more  thoughtful  through- 
out the  country  must  be  directed  to  the 
perfection  of  the  human  body  as  a  machine. 

Of  the  primal  forces  of  all  living  matter, 
nutrition  easily  ranks  first  and  affects  the 
others  most  profoundly. 

The  end  and  aim  of  nutrition  is 

Nutrition 

energy,  force,  power.  1  he  human 
body  (the  plant  or  animal  as  well)  must 
make  this  for  itself.  It  cannot  be  pumped 
in.  Man  is  not  a  battery  to  be  charged 
from  outside,  though  he  is  an  automobile. 

Education  is  not  complete  unless  all 
powers  work  together.  Brain  gymnastics 
are  no  more  commendable  than  bodily  gym- 


8  The  Art  of  Right  Living 

nasties  as  mere  exercises,  and  if  one-sided 
are  as  fatal  to  all-around  development. 

The  reasonable  human  being  does  not 
live  for  his  body  or  his  brain,  but  for  all 
his  forces  working  together  for  results.  He 
is  conscious  of  a  sense  of  responsibility  to 
the  race,  to  the  community  in  which  he 
lives. 

Production  of  energy  is  the  object  of 
life ;  direction  of  energy  is  another  thing. 
But  the  healthy,  happy  person  is  not  liable 
to  be  a  criminal.  Prisons  and  reformatories 
are  filled  with  those  whose  twisted  nerves 
and  starved  muscles  mean  knotted  brains 
and  troublesome,  uncontrolled  impulses. 

We  possess  a  body,  a  machine  to  use  in 
accomplishing  our  ideals.  If  we  do  not 
learn  to  use  it  to  the  best  advantage  our 
ideals  cannot  be  fulfilled. 

The  purpose  of  this  human  machine  is 
to  furnish  energy  for  the  mind  to  apply  to 
its  needs.  The  mind  has  no  other  source 
of  energy,  no  supply  station  from  which  it 
can  be  pumped  in. 

The  power  at  the  service  of  body  and 
soul  must  be  manufactured  within  the  body. 
To  this  end  it  needs  care  and  training,  food, 


The  Art  of  Right  Living  9 

exercise,  and  sleep,  as  well  as  an  environ- 
ment which  shall  give  it  a  fair  chance. 

There  are  two  recognized  ways  of  im- 
proving the  quality  of  human  beings:  one 
by  giving  a  better  heredity  —  starting  them 
in  life  with  a  stronger  heart,  better  diges- 
tion, steadier  nerves ;  the  other,  by  so  com- 
bining the  factors  of  daily  life  that  even  a 
weak  heart  may  grow  strong,  a  poor  diges- 
tion may  become  good,  and  frayed  nerves 
gain  steadiness. 

The  first  method,  however  attractive  in 
theory,  is,  in  the  present  state  of  science, 
impracticable ;  but  the  second  method  of 
securing  a  more  efficient  human  community 
is  within  our  grasp  if  only  each  group  of 
men  would  live  up  to  the  light  now  avail- 
able. We  are  like  wanderers  in  a  dark 
corridor,  dark  only  because  we  do  not  reach 
up  and  turn  on  the  light.  To  refuse  to  live 
as  well  as  we  may  because  science  cannot 
explain  all  the  facts  from  which  inferences 
are  drawn  is  as  foolish  as  for  the  same 
wanderers  to  ask :  "  Can  you  explain  to  us 
the  nature  of  electricity.-*  If  not,  then  we 
refuse  to  use  its  light." 

The  science  of  right  living  has  not   yet 


TO  The  Art  of  Right  Living 

been  worked  out  in  all  its  details.  Never- 
theless, certain  rules  of  practice  are  so  well 
established  that  only  obstinate  or  idiotic 
men  have  any  excuse  for  denying  their 
existence.  History  teaches  the  universality 
of  the  rule  that  the  art  is  developed  long 
before  the  science  in  any  branch  of  applied 
knov/ledge. 

The  attempt  made  here  is  not  to  teach 
a  system  of  ethics,  but  only  to  call  attention 
to  certain  points  in  practical,  every-day  liv- 
ing which  make  for  such  improved  condi- 
tions in  environment  as  will  permit  a  higher 
moral  and  intellectual  development. 

In  the  words  of  that  prophet  of  the  new 
republic,  Mr.  H.  G.  Wells,  it  is  our  duty 
"  to  secure  an  ideal  environment  for  children 
in  as  many  cases  as  possible." 

These  improved  conditions  include  knowl- 
edge of  the  essential  requirements  of  the 
growing  child,  safe  water  to  drink,  and  plenty 
of  it,  good  food,  sleep,  exercise,  etc.  The 
need  of  water  is  put  first  for  two  reasons: 
it  is  oftenest  neglected  and  it  is  a  funda- 
mental need  for  all  life.  A  certain  dilution 
with  water  is  a  sine  qua  non  of  all  the 
chemical  changes  which  we  associate  with 


The  Art  of  Right  Livins^  ii 

growth.  The  fermentation  of  grape  juice 
and  the  keeping  qualities  of  grape  jelly  and 
of  raisins  are  familiar  examples.  The  ex- 
treme instability  of  milk  and  the  greater 
permanence  of  butter  and  cheese  illustrate 
the  same  thing.  In  concentrated  solutions, 
biological  action  goes  on  with  lessened 
vigor;  in  dry  substances,  with  extreme 
slowness    or    not    at    all. 

The  practical  lesson  to  be  drawn  from 
these  well-known  facts  is  that  human  beings 
as  well  as  bacteria  require  plenty  of  water 
to  dilute  the  blood  stream  constantly  circu- 
lating through  their  tissues,  if  the  millions 
of  little  living  cells  of  which  these  tissues 
are  composed  are  to  thrive  and  do  their 
work,  by  chemical  changes  converting  into 
energy  the  food  supply  brought  to  them  in 
solution  by  this  blood  stream. 

Sluggish  circulation  means  less  power  of 
work,  of  thought,  of  pleasure.  The  senses 
are  dulled ;  life  is  a  burden  instead  of  a  joy 
with  a  sense  of  power.  But  there  is  a  more 
serious  danger  in  this  clogged  condition. 
In  the  very  nature  of  things,  the  load  of  this 
circulating  current  is  easily  decomposable 
material.     Beef  juice  freshly  prepared,  milk 


12  The  Art  of  Right  Living 

freshly  drawn,  are  assimilated  and  give 
strength ;  allowed  to  stand  in  a  warm  place, 
putrefactive  changes  set  in  which  cause 
them  to  become  toxic.  Persons  taking  them 
in  that  condition  may  suffer  "ptomaine 
poisoning." 

The  fluids  of  the  normal  human  body  are 
so  nicely  balanced  as  to  chemical  propor- 
tions, that  if  they  are  perverted  from  their 
normal  action  by  overloading,  by  reduced 
temperature,  by  unsuitable  combinations, 
certain  of  these  objectionable  changes  take 
place  inside  the  body  and  auto-infection 
occurs.  Most  cases  of  acute  indigestion 
and  cholera  morbus,  as  well  as  other  less 
marked  digestive  disturbances,  are  due  to 
inability  of  the  secreted  fluids  of  the  body 
to  take  care  of  the  material  submitted  to 
their  action.  The  first  place  in  this  list 
of  dangerous  circumstances  may  well  be 
given  to  lack  of  sufificient  water  to  permit 
quick  change  and  quick  carrying  away  of 
useless  material. 

An  attack  of  indigestion  may  often  be 
relieved  by  taking  a  pint  of  hot  water. 

If  the  habit  of  drinking  sufficient  water 
is  well  established,  there  will  be  less  danger 
of  any  sudden  disturbance. 


The  Art  of  Right  Living  13 

The  danger  of  taking  too  much  water  is 
not  great,  for  there  are  three  ways  of  ehmi- 
nating  the  unnecessary  quantity:  through 
the  skin,  the  lungs,  the  kidneys.  (EHmina- 
tion  by  the  skin  is  not  enough  considered 
in  deciding  upon  the  clothing.)  The  dan- 
ger is  less  than  in  taking  too  little,  because 
in  the  former  case  the  regulating  forces 
have  a  chance  to  act ;  in  the  latter,  the  call 
for  more  water  is  unheeded,  often  because 
not  understood. 

The  problem  of  a  safe  water  supply  is, 
therefore,  very  closely  linked  with  the  es- 
sentials of  wholesome  living.  This  will  be 
considered  later. 

The  circulating  fluids  of  the  body  carry 
food  in  solution  to  the  living  cells,  hence 
the  food  eaten  must  be  such  that  the  secre- 
tions can  convert  it.  Charcoal,  although  an 
excellent  fuel  in  the  grate,  is  not  fuel  for 
the  human  body,  because  it  cannot  be  made 
into  a  usable  form.  Starch,  sugar,  and  fat, 
on  the  other  hand,  can  be  so  used,  and  there- 
fore they  are  foods  for  man  as  well  as  for 
the  fire.  Cellulose,  woody  fiber  found  in 
all  plants,  serves  as  food  for  many  animals, 
but  in  very  slight  degree  for  man. 


14  The  Art  of  Right  Living 

Safe  exercise  comes  next  after 

Physical  Motion  .  ,  , 

safe  water  in  a  study  of  phys- 
ical needs. 

The  necessity  for  fluidity  in  the  circulat- 
ing blood  stream  is  not  the  only  necessity. 
There  must  be  a  strong  push  to  the  cur- 
rent to  keep  it  moving  through  the  network 
of  arteries,  veins,  and  especially  capillaries, 
those  threadlike  passages  which  are  so 
easily  clogged.  Stagnation  starves  the  cells 
which  need  food  constantly. 

This  push  is  given  by  the  heart  pumping 
the  blood  with  such  force  that  it  must  find 
a  passage.  The  heart  is  stimulated  by  exer- 
cise ;  the  lungs  are  forced  to  carry  a  fuller, 
deeper  tide  of  air,  giving  oxygen  to  develop 
more  energy  from  the  dissolved  food. 

Without  exercise  the  blood  stream  flows 
gently.  If  the  food  is  accurately  balanced 
to  the  body's  needs,  the  person  may  not 
suffer,  but  the  least  carelessness  in  diet  is 
upsetting. 

The  need  of  physical  motion  in  order 
to  keep  up  that  circulation  which  means 
growth  and  strength  is  seen  in  the  infant 
and  young  child  in  constant  motion  in  all 
their  waking  hours.     Because  of  this  neces- 


The  Art  of  Right  Living  15 

sity   children    must    not    be    kept    to    rigid 
positions  for  long  periods  even  in  school. 

The  call  for  oxygen  is  another  note  disre- 
garded through  ignorance  and  carelessness. 

The  child  should  learn  to  heed  this  call 
as  much  as  any  other.  It  is  imperative 
that  fresh  air,  not  used-up,  breathed-over- 
and-over-again  air,  should  flow  through  the 
lungs. 

The  food  can  be  converted  into  useful 
material  only  through  combination  with  the 
oxygen  of  the  air.  The  toxic  substances 
earlier  referred  to  are  liable  to  be  formed 
in  greater  or  less  degree  if  too  little  air  is 
available. 

Nothing  will  take  the  place  of  fresh  air. 
It  is  one  of  the  necessities  of  right  living. 
The  child  should  be  taught  to  recognize 
stale  air  and  to  demand  fresh  air  as  he  now 
demands  a  drink  of  water.  Study  rooms  at 
home  and  in  school  must  have  better  facili- 
ties than  nine-tenths  now  have  in  order  to 
lessen  the  "partial  death  rate." 

The    discovery   that    the    dreaded    white 
plague  may  be  prevented  and  even  cured,  if 
taken  in  time,  should  certainly  help  teachers ' 
and  parents  to  enforce  rules  of  plenty  of  air, 


1 6  The  Art  of  Right  Living 

to  secure  the  cooperation  of  the  children  for 
their  own  benefit,  and  of  taxpayers  in  the 
certainty  of  less  expense  for  hospitals  and 
funerals.  I  fully  believe  that  if  one-tenth 
the  money  now  devoted  to  hospitals  was 
spent  in  a  crusade  for  better  living  condi- 
tions, most  of  the  institutions  within  ten 
years  would  close  for  want  of  patients. 

Simple  devices  in  the  ordinary  house  will 
serve  if  once  the  cardinal  principle  of  cir- 
culation is  taken  to  heart.  Heated  air  rises, 
and  since  nearly  all  "  bad  "  air  is  heated  air, 
therefore  let  it  out  at  the  top  of  the  space 
before  it  has  a  chance  to  vitiate  the  rest. 
It  will  mean  a  little  more  coal  or  warmer 
clothing,  but  an  incalculable  gain  in  health. 
Tight  joints  in  all  gas  and  plumbing  fix- 
tures are  also  indispensable.  The  sense  of 
smell  seems  to  be  going  the  way  of  teeth 
and  hair.  Half  the  houses  one  enters  reveal 
to  the  educated  nose  leaks  of  one  or  both 
gas  and  waste  pipes.  Dullness,  stupidity,  ill 
temper,  headache,  and  a  host  of  evils  attrib- 
uted to  Providence  or  our  ancestors,  all  are 
bred  from  our  own  ignorance  of  the  simplest 
of  nature's  laws. 

It  is  true  that  man  is  a  part  of  nature,  sub- 


The  Art  of  Right  Living  17 

ject  to  nature's  laws,  but  he  has  a  power  of 
control  over  himself  and  his  natural  environ- 
ment, if  only  he  will  learn  to  use  it,  greater 
far  than  over  other  living  things,  for  man 
has  a  spiritual  nature  capable  of  high  ideals 
for  himself,  ideals  which  make  self-control, 
foresight,  and  ambition  possible ;  ideals 
which  react  on  his  bodily  condition,  stimu- 
lating or  inhibiting  physical  reactions.  He 
has  power  to  set  for  himself  a  goal  to  strive 
for,  to  ask  "  What  shall  I  make  of  myself  ?  " 

Hindrances  to  right  living  are  mostly  due 
to  our  thoughtless  acceptance  of  tradition, 
or  to  the  heedless  rush  of  modern  life. 

From  the  study  of  plant  and  animal  life 
we  have  come  to  have  a  glimmer  of  under- 
standing of  what  life  means.  The  plants  all 
have  a  meaning  and  purpose,  and  only  those 
that  fulfill  it  best  survive,  the  others  are 
choked  out  in  nature.  The  weak  and  use- 
less have  scant  courtesy  in  nature's  rule,  but 
man  may  interfere,  and  by  soil,  water,  and 
fertilizer  can  develop  in  a  few  years  such 
results  as  nature  unaided  would  show  only 
in  hundreds  of  years,  which  proves  that  we 
have  gained  partial  control  of  life's  secrets. 

The  American  Beauty  rose,  the  chrysan- 


1 8  The  Art  of  Ris;ht  Living 

themum,  and  hundreds  of  beautiful  flowers 
prove  that  the  result  may  be  more  beauty  of 
form  and  color  but  without  production  of 
seed,  which  is  the  general  end  of  all  natural 
life.  So  in  the  animal  world,  the  evolution 
of  the  trotting  horse,  the  production  of  vari- 
ous desired  strains  of  color  or  form,  prove 
that  man  has  learned  to  obtain  what  he 
wishes  to  secure. 

If  by  study  and  experiment  man  has  dis- 
covered the  laws  of  life  to  an  extent  shown 
by  every  agricultural  experiment  station  in 
the  country,  should  we  not  expect  that  he 
had  learned  how  to  develop  himself?  But, 
alas !  from  every  civilized  community  comes 
the  same  cry  —  deterioration  of  the  physique 
of  the  men  desired  for  soldiers,  of  the  maids 
in  our  houses,  of  girls  in  our  colleges,  of  the 
general  physical  condition  when  tested  by 
race  standards. 

One  reason  is  plain  —  by  our  care  in  cer- 
tain directions  more  weakly  children  and 
adults  survive  —  to  exist,  but  not  to  add  to 
the  social  wealth  of  the  community;  but 
there  must  be  some  more  deeply-seated  cause 
than  survival  of  the  unfit  births.  If  a  plant 
is  put  into  very  rich   soil  and  protected  it 


The  Art  of  Right  Living  19 

grows  slender,  with  a  weak  stem  and  plenty 
of  leaves,  but  bears  no  fruit.  It  cannot  stand 
alone,  but  must  be  tied  up,  lest  it  fall  to  the 
ground  and  be  trodden  upon.  An  overfed 
animal  soon  becomes  ill  and  an  over-pro- 
tected pet  dog  cannot  bear  the  cold  or 
wet. 

In  spite  of  all  these  lessons  from  plant 
and  animal  life,  that  life  which  we  have 
learned  to  know  as  of  the  same  general 
order  as  our  own,  we  go  on,  careless  of  all 
the  lessons,  neglectful  of  all  the  conditions 
which  might  make  us  powerful  in  our  own 
line. 

There  seems  to  be  in  us  all  the  sort  of 
self-righteousness  exemplified  in  the  old 
story  of  the  Quaker  who  said,  sighing, 
"  Mary,  the  world  is  all  queer  but  thee 
and  me,  and  I  sometimes  think  thee  is  a 
little  queer." 

We  seem  to  have  assimilated  so  deeply 
the  idea  that  man  is  lord  of  all  the  earth, 
that  we  do  not  include  man  himself  in  the 
class  over  which  he  rules ;  we  do  not  grasp 
the  thought  that  man  must  be  lord  of  him- 
self also,  if  he  is  not  to  succumb  to  nature's 
rule  in  the  end. 


20  The  Art  of  Right  Living 

Now  the  great  difference  between  man 
and  beast  is  the  power  man  has  of  looking 
forward,  of  preparing  for  the  future,  of  imag- 
ination, of  conscious  preparation ;  but,  alas, 
how  little  do  we  of  this  day  use  this  power ! 
When  once  we  know  the  joy  of  control,  we 
shall  understand  what  man's  dominion  over- 
nature  means. 

To  master  a  fine  horse,  to  drive  an  auto- 
mobile, to  sway  an  audience,  is  a  recognized 
stimulant;  to  control  oneself,  to  see  one's 
own  wishes  developing,  one's  own  power 
increasing,  that  also  is  wine  to  the  spirit, 
and,  if  one's  energies  are  directed  in  the 
right  direction,  a  pleasure  to  all  onlookers. 

This  joy  of  self-control  should  be  taught 
to  children.  Control  of  things  comes  easily 
then ;  control  of  self  comes  with  greater 
difficulty,  but  patiently  taught  does  become 
habit.  Our  manual  training  instruction  is 
doing  much  toward  this.  A  boy  must  con- 
trol his  own  muscles  before  he  can  move 
his  tool  as  he  wills. 

A  good  cook  is  always  calm  and  con- 
scious of  power,  never  fussy  or  flustered.  It 
is  consciousness  of  ability  to  secure  results 
that  makes  her  intolerant  of  weights  and 
measures. 


The  Art  of  Ri^ht  Liviuj^  21 

I  trust  we  have  somewhat  clearly  in  mind 
a  picture  of  the  wonderful  process  of  the 
production  of  energy  within  the  human 
body  —  the  ceaseless  flow  of  the  blood  carry- 
ing food  to  the  millions  of  cells,  whose  life 
makes  our  life,  and  bringing  away  the  waste 
substance. 

We  have  now  to  bring  into  consid- 

Eating  ,  .  .  ^^    . 

eration  certam  pomts  of  mtermittent 
activity.  Eating,  as  a  process  of  taking 
food,  is  one  of  them.  The  blood  flows 
through  its  channels  all  the  time;  but  the 
digestive  organs,  which  have  to  manufacture 
new  secretions  to  take  the  place  of  those 
used,  must  have  time  to  do  it  in.  Hence  we 
should  take  food  only  at  regular  intervals, 
the  time  between  the  taking  depending  upon 
the  character  of  the  food,  whether  it  digests 
in  half  an  hour  or  requires  five  hours. 

The  demand  of  the  body  is  an  individual 
factor  different  from  the  sijiking  feeling  in 
the  stomach  waiting  for  its  load.  The  more 
fully  the  body  has  used  its  supply  the  louder 
this  call. 

Shall  we  take  five  meals  or  one  meal  in 
the  twenty-four   hours  ?     That    is,  shall  we 


2  2  The  Art  of  Right  Living 

eat  much  or  little  at  one  sitting?  The 
answer  is  another  question :  Which  gives 
the  more  efficient  life  to  the  individual  ? 
This  is  the  basis  for  decision. 

Appetite  is  a  healthy  call,  which  we  grown 
people  have  so  restrained  with  our  eye  and 
taste  objections  and  imaginings  that  it  has 
practically  left  us.  We  frequently  allow  the 
looks  of  a  dish  or  the  shape  of  a  dish  to  stop 
our  eating  of  needed  food. 

This  intermittent  taking  of  food  is  to  allow 
the  recuperation  of  the  secretory  glands  and 
to  avoid  overloading  the  blood  stream  — 
over-concentration  of  the  blood  in  solution. 

After  a  certain  time  the  cells  o^et 
Sleep  ,     ,  ^,  ,  ^, 

worked  out.  1  here  is  a  greater  de- 
mand upon  them  than  they  can  fill,  and  the 
demand  must  stop  that  they  may  catch 
up  —  and  we  go  to  sleep.  This  means  re- 
laxation of  the  muscles,  which  allows  freer 
flow;  release  of  nerve  tissue,  which  opens 
wide  some  channels;  and  stoppage  of  most 
of  the  waste  due  to  activity.  It  is  a  time  of 
building  up  for  the  next  day,  and  it  is  neces- 
sary to  have  this  regularly,  because  man  is 
not  a  machine  for  perpetual  action,  since  his 


The  Art  of  Right  Living  23 

living  cells  manufacture  their  own  power. 
Some  time  must  be  given  them  in  which 
to  accomplish  it  in  a  satisfactory  manner. 
They  cannot  work  and  recuperate  at  the 
same  time. 

Sleep  permits  this  re-creation  of  power  and 
force  by  the  cessation  of  voluntary  motion, 
giving  a  sufficient  time  for  rebuilding  the 
torn-down  tissues.  The  brain  cells,  like  all 
others,  need  rest,  but  so  obedient  are  they  to 
stimulus  that  they  go  on  and  on  after  we 
wish  them  to  stop  work,  like  the  anxious 
mother  unconvinced  that  tomorrow  will 
serve  just  as  well  for  the  child's  new  dress 
or  special  cake. 

But  it  is  easy  to  see  that  there  is  great 
need  of  oxygen  in  this  process,  and  that 
plenty  of  fresh  air  at  night  is  essential.  Fear 
of  night  air  has  sent  most  of  the  consump- 
tives to  their  graves. 

It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  estab- 
lish correct  habits  of  sleeping  in  the  child. 
Sound,  restful  sleep  from  which  one  awak- 
ens to  joy  in  living  is  the  essential  thing, 
whether  the  result  is  obtained  after  seven, 
eight,  or  nine  hours.  Restless  nights,  terri- 
fying dreams,  do  not  permit  that  full  repair 


24  The  Art  of  Right  Living 

of  worked  out  tissues  which  means  efficient 
living. 

The  disturbance  of  digestion  caused  by 
wrong  food,  the  over-stimulation  of  the  brain 
by  bad  air,  by  excitement,  by  worry,  or  by 
fear,  or  even  just  plain  habit  carelessly 
formed,  all  are  responsible  in  varying  de- 
grees for  lack  of  recuperative  sleep.  Of 
these  probably  the  most  difficult  to  remedy 
is  habit.  Some  change  of  thought  or  sur- 
roundings is  necessary  to  break  a  person  of 
lying  awake  or  of  waking  at  undesirable 
hours.  If  it  is  once  realized  that  sleep  is 
an  essential  part  of  right  living  every  sane 
person  will  take  care  to  secure  good  habits 
and  right  conditions.  Dr.  Sargent's  advice 
is  "to  cultivate  the  habit  of  sleeping  inde- 
pendently of  circumstances." 

Hurry  and  worry  are  the  arreat- 

Amusement  i  •      i  •   • 

est  hnidrances  to  nutrition  and 
recuperation.  The  cheerfulness  of  health, 
the  happy,  non-careworn  life,  is  worth  striv- 
ing for.  Amusements,  going  to  the  play,  to 
the  concert,  to  a  pleasant  party,  give  rest 
to  the  overworked  nerves.  Therefore  our 
amusements  should  be  planned  to  give  this 


The  Art  of  Right  Living  25 

rest.  We  should  form  habits  of  furnishing 
suitable  amusement  to  the  children  and  to 
ourselves,  only  we  must  not  lose  sight  of 
the  aim  of  life  and  substitute  amusement  for 
work.  Some  of  us  find  greater  pleasure  in 
other  work,  some  in  absolute  rest.  Change 
is  beneficial,  if  only  a  meal  at  a  neighbor's 
or  at  a  restaurant  now  and  then.  It  is  a 
good  rule  to  dine  out  once  a  week,  since 
variety  in  food  is  a  sort  of  amusement. 
Re-creation  must  also  be  favored  by  change 
of  thought,  by  amusements,  as  we  term  the 
brain-resting  class  of  occupations.  The 
value  of  really  entertaining  performances 
is  incalculable. 

Stimulus  to  heart  action  is  found  in 
laughter,  to  exercise  in  good  company. 
Who  has  not,  unconsciously,  walked  miles 
with  an  entertaining  friend  t 

Most  important  of  all  is  the  removal  of 
disturbing  watch  over  functions  which  go 
on  much  better  unnoticed.  Like  children, 
these  primitive  processes  are  apt  to  become 
troublesome  .in  proportion  to  the  attention 
bestowed  on  them. 

Eighty  per  cent  of  the  so-called  amuse- 
ments are   not    recreations.     They  exhaust 


26  The  Art  of  Right  Living 

more  rapidly  than  they  refresh.  This  touch- 
stone of  efficiency  should  be  applied  by 
adults  to  themselves  and  by  guardians  to 
the  effect  of  entertainments  upon  children. 
Momentary  excitement  is  not  recuperation, 
remaking  of  nervous  tissue. 

After  a  time  of  repair,  as  in  sleep 

Exercise  .  ^  ^ 

or  m  sedentary  amusements,  the 
waste  which  results  from  all  living  processes 
must  be  gotten  rid  of.  A  brisk  exercise,  or 
bath,  or  massasfe  is  needed  to  start  ao^ain 
the  quick  flow,  to  expel  the  CO2  which  has 
collected,  and  to  cause  the  full  tide  of 
breathing  —  to  shake  out  the  ashes,  as  it 
were,  from  the  human  furnace  so  that  the 
fuel  may  give  energy. 

For  this  purpose  the  exercise  need  not  be 
long  continued,  but  should  be  sufficiently 
brisk  to  send  the  current  of  blood  through 
all  the  fine  capillaries  and  the  tide  of  air 
to  the  deepest  lung  cells.  Until  this  clear- 
ance of  the  choked  passage  has  taken  place 
only  a  light  meal  should  be  eaten,  for  the 
forces  of  bodily  activity  are  rarely  sufficient 
for  two  things  at  once. 

A  long  walk  once  a  week  cannot  take 
the  place  of  brisk  daily  exercise. 


The  Art  of  Right  Living  27 

We   have   referred  several    times  to 

Work  ,    .    n  •  •  1 

mental  mfluence  over  nutrition,  and 

we  come   now  to  an   important  adjunct  in 

the  art  of    right  living  —  joy  in   work,  the 

taking  the  mind  off  the  drudgery  of  life. 

The  daily  work  should  not  be  drudgery, 
but  most  of  us  seem  not  to  have  found  the 
right  work,  and  the  monotony  of  the  daily 
round  becomes  deadly. 

I  am  sorry  for  such,  as  I  am  sorry  for 
those  to  whom  food  becomes  monotonous, 
so  that  they  must  have  something  differ- 
ent—  cannot  eat  the  same  thing  twice  in 
succession.  If  one  sees  before  him  all  the 
kinds  of  food  there  are  at  one  meal,  there 
is  nothing  left  for  the  next.  This  gratifies 
the  mental  desire  for  choice,  but  close  ob- 
servers say  that  after  scanning  a  bill  of  fare 
a  foot  long  they  usually  take  the  same 
things  day  after  day. 

This  craving  for  the  new  is  strongest  in 
those  who  are  not  satisfied  with  their  daily 
work ;  but  for  all  of  us  it  is  well  to  forget 
ourselves  and  our  worries. 

We  cannot  too  strongly  impress  upon 
the  child  how  important  to  health  is  work, 
remunerative  action;   not  necessarily  remu- 


28  The  Art  of  Right  Living 

nerative  in  coin  of  the  realm,  but  in  satis- 
faction with  one's  life.  Work  is  necessary 
in  order  to  enjoy  recreation.  It  is  a  law 
of  life,  bringing  dire  disaster  in  the  break- 
ing. Many  so-called  amusements  are  hard 
work,  and  much,  very  much  of  the  work  of 
the  world  is  or  may  be  so  interesting  as 
to  be  really  recreation,  if  not  too  long 
continued. 

Perhaps  we  are  not  furnished  with  a 
science  of  work,  but  we  must  accept  work 
as  a  part  of  the  art  of  right  living.  In  our 
hearts  we  know  that  work  is  the  mainspring 
of  existence,  that  it  furnishes  the  motive 
power  for  effort. 

The  delight  in  life  is  what  we  can  do 
with  it.  A  sense  of  power  over  things 
is  one  of  the  most  human  attributes.  It 
is  the  source  of  both  good  and  evil;  evil 
when  used  to  oppress  other  human  beings, 
good  when  it  gives  man  a  control  which  he 
utilizes  to  give  happiness  and  satisfaction 
to  his  fellowman. 

It  is  a  want  of  this  feeling  of  conscious 
power  which  is  largely  accountable  for  the 
degeneration  of  the  wage-earner  of  today. 
He  is,  for  the  most  part,  unskilled.     That 


The  Art  of  Right  Living  29 

is,  he  cannot  do  well  the  thing  he  under- 
takes. He  has  power  neither  over  his  tools, 
his  materials,  nor  his  own  muscles. 

This  inner  sense  of  ineffectiveness  is  the 
unrecognized  cause  of  the  restless  discon- 
tent so  prevalent  today.  No  person  who 
is  accomplishing  something,  seeing  it  grow 
under  his  hands  to  what  it  was  in  his 
thought,  is  discontented.  It  is  a  mistake 
to  think  that  the  fact  of  making  the  article 
for  some  one  else  and  not  for  oneself  is  the 
cause  of  dissatisfaction.  The  true  pleasure 
of  work  is  in  the  doing  and  not  in  the  pos- 
session afterwards,  in  most  cases.  We  have 
lost  pride  in  our  work  and  have  transferred 
our  distaste  for  poor  work  to  work  itself,  to 
the  great  danger  of  our  physical  and  moral 
health. 

Teachers  need  to  study  the  psychology  of 
work,  to  utilize  the  natural  desire  of  chil- 
dren for  effective  movements.  It  is  a  sign 
not  to  be  neglected  that  every  child  tries 
to  express  his  thoughts  in  making  things. 
Of  course  his  attempts  are  crude,  but  the 
necessity  is  there. 

There  is  probably  no  better  way  to  begin 
a  child's   training  for   right    living   than   to 


30  The  Art  of  Right  Living 

give  him  a  garden  indoors  or  out.  The 
care  of  a  garden  bed  combines  exercise, 
amusement,  and  work  to  a  degree  not  at- 
tained by  anything  else.  It  adds  indirect 
instruction  in  the  essentials  of  all  life,  and 
initiates  the  child  into  the  mysteries  of 
living. 

There  is  a  fallacy  in  the  statement  that 
the  chief  incentive  to  work  is  usually  pos- 
session of  things.  It  is  claimed  that  civili- 
zation is  increase  of  wants,  and  that  the 
greatest  incentive  to  work  which  the  adult 
recognizes  is  discontent  with  present  pos- 
sessions. He  works  to  secure  what  he 
hopes  will  give  him  that  sense  of  satis- 
faction which  we  call  contentment,  a  sense 
which  a  man  rarely  attains.  It  is  like  the 
bundle  of  hay  dangling  from  the  wagon 
top  just  ahead  of  the  horse's  nose,  ever 
almost  within  his  reach  but  never  attain- 
able. Therefore  we  seem  driven  to  the 
conclusion  that  we  must  look,  each  for 
himself,  the  situation  squarely  in  the  face 
and  decide  the  nearest  approach  to  the  ideal 
attainable,  all  things  considered,  and  having 
set  that  standard  to  hold  by  it  until  another 
step  is  possible.     If  the  horse  is  so  blinded 


or  t'-je: 


OF 


The  Art  of  Right  Livi7tg  31 

by  eagerness  to  reach  the  hay  that  he  steps 
off  a  precipice  and  falls,  load  and  all,  to  the 
bottom,  of  what  avail  is  it  ? 

Pleasure  in  work  lessens  expense  of  liv- 
ing more  than  any  other  single  thing. 
Exercise  properly  taken  means  a  keener 
appetite  and  permits  less  expensive  food. 
A  simpler  life  is  possible  when  mere  living 
is  a  pleasure. 

In  close  connection  with  the  psv- 

Pleasure  r      i 

chology  01  work  lies  a  bit  of  the 
philosophy  of  pleasure. 

The  young  stargazer  is  astonished  to  find 
that  his  keenest  vision  is  not  directly  in 
front,  at  the  point  toward  which  he  is  look- 
ing, but  a  little  to  one  side.  For  instance, 
sweeping  the  heavens  in  search  of  possible 
comets,  the  observer  catches  glimpses  of 
shooting  stars  on  one  side  of  his  line  of 
direct  vision.  So  in  life  our  keenest  pleas- 
ures are  not  those  we  seek  so  earnestly,  but 
side  lights  upon  our  pathway,  unexpected 
happenings. 

If  one  lives  for  pleasure,  one  does  not 
enjoy  life  in  the  degree  possible  to  one 
who  lives  for  work  and  finds  his  pleasure 
unexpectedly. 


32  The  Art  of  Right  Living 

The  psychology  of  work  in- 

Aitn  or  Purpose  -^  i    r     •-  •  i 

eludes  a  definite  aim  and 
purpose  in  life,  a  purpose  so  dear  to  the 
individual  as  to  sweeten  toil  and  minimize 
sacrifice. 

The  great  evil  of  present  industrial  con- 
ditions is  that  this  conscious  purpose  is  for 
so  many  limited  to  the  week's  wage,  that  is, 
the  end  of  effort  is  expressed  in  money,  and 
the  thought  of  the  purpose  that  money  shall 
serve  is  too  subconscious  to  be  appreciated. 

In  some  way  the  average  wage-earner 
must  be  brought  to  see  the  end  result, 
namely,  a  more  comfortable,  wholesome, 
and  energy-producing  life  for  him  and  his. 
If  he  strives  for  pleasure  only  it  will  elude 
him.  All  great  men  and  women  have  had 
to  struggle  with  obstacles,  to  deny  them- 
selves in  order  to  gain  the  goal  of  their 
ambition.  Let  no  one  think  the  order  of 
nature  has  changed  in  this  time.  "In  the 
sweat  of  thy  brow  thou  shalt  eat  thy  daily 
bread,"  will  hold  true  as  long  as  the  world 
stands. 

It  behooves  us  all  to  have,  early  in  life, 
a  definite  purpose  in  living,  one  so  strong 
as  to  carry  us  light-footed  over  all  impedi- 


The  Art  of  Right  Livhig  33 

ments,  one  so  clearly  in  mind  as  to  sustain 
courage  in  all  dark  places.  Only  in  this 
way  lies  health  of  body  and  mind. 

The  satisfaction  in  seeing  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  task  set  before  one  proves  the 
truth  of  the  statement.  It  is  not  the  mere 
doing,  muscular  motions,  that  causes  the 
healthful  glow;  it  is  the  mental  response, 
the  sense  of  effectiveness,  the  consciousness 
of  power  to  do  what  the  mind  has  willed. 
To  secure  a  flower  from  an  apparently  in- 
accessible cliff,  to  row  against  a  strong 
current,  to  climb  a  tall  tree ;  numberless 
instances  will  occur  to  the  reader.  But  also 
the  filling  of  the  wood  box,  the  washing  of 
the  dishes,  the  tidying  of  the  chamber, 
although  given  as  tasks  are  bits  of  work  to 
be  done,  and  when  well  done  give  a  glow 
of  satisfaction ;  therefore  this  joy  of  doing 
should  be  cultivated  in  children,  a  quick 
response  of  nerve  to  the  stimulus  of  the 
touch  of  things.  Power  to  work  is  mans 
capital.  Health  is  wealth  only  when  the 
will  to  do  is  also  present. 

Civilization  may  be  designated  as  a  con- 
dition of  wants.  When  we  civilize  a  savage 
nation,  we  teach  the  people  to  want  things 


34  The  Art  of  Right  Living 

they  never  had  or  cared  to  have.  It  is  not 
the  things  that  are  good  for  them,  too  often 
the  reverse,  but  it  is  the  incentive  to  work 
in  order  to  have  more  that  arouses  ambi- 
tion, stirs  dormant  faculties,  and  makes  a 
man  or  makes  a  nation  out  of  a  horde  of 
ineiiBcient  people. 

The  free  man  with  no  respon- 

Environment  ......  ,        ,  , 

sibilities  and  plenty  or  money 
may  choose  his  own  climate  and  may  follow 
the  seasons  if  he  will,  but  the  greater  part 
of  mankind  find  themselves  in  fixed  habi- 
tations, unable  to  rove. 

Climate  is  not  under  man's  control,  there- 
fore he  must  adapt  himself  to  it.  He  shows 
his  power  over  conditions  by  varying  food, 
clothing,  exercise,  and  housing  in  accord- 
ance with  local  variations.  The  savage  has 
worked  out  for  himself  a  series  of  uncon- 
scious guides.     Shall  civilized  man  do  less  ? 

It  would  almost  appear  that  the  higher 
civilization  rises  the  less  common  sense  it 
shows,  the  less  science  it  applies  to  daily 
affairs.  Food  suitable  for  Arctic  regions 
is  used  by  the  traveler  in  torrid  zones. 
Heavy  clothing  is  worn  in  heated  houses, 


The  Art  of  Right  Living  35 

and  work  is  carried  on  just  as  briskly  in 
an  excessively  hot  summer  day  as  in  a  cool 
one.  A  little  reflection  would  convince  the 
intelligent  person  of  the  folly  of  it. 

The  death  rate  is  being  lowered  in  all 
cases  under  state  control,  but  it  is  rising 
with  a  counterbalancing  rapidity  in  the 
sphere  of  individual  responsibility.  The 
state  has  not  prescribed  the  menu  for  pub- 
lic banquets,  hours  of  pleasure,  rate  of  speed 
of  the  human  machine ;  the  individual  is  at 
liberty  to  drop  dead  from  heart  disease,  to 
suffocate  in  close  rooms  until  the  white 
plague  claims  him.  The  state  has  applied 
science  to  engineering  problems,  drained 
swamps,  cleared  out  mosquitoes,  furnished 
good  water  and  drainage ;  but  the  people  do 
not  take  advantage  of  the  relief  offered,  nor 
will  they  avail  themselves  to  the  full  until 
the  foundation  is  laid  in  the  public  schools, 
until  the  children  imbibe  with  their  three 
R's  this  fourth  R,  the  fundamental  princi- 
ple of  right  living — the  means  at  hand  for 
mitigating  climate  when  it  is  too  severe 
for  health,  the  means  of  improving  soil  and 
water  supply,  for  suppressing  noise,  dust, 
and  for  eliminating  hurry. 


36  The  Art  of  Right  Living 

In  short,  the  child  at  school  should  become 
accustomed  to  the  best  conditions  known  to 
science,  and  science  knows  far  more  than  is 
yet  applied  in  practice. 

Although  America  has  not  become 
aroused  as  Great  Britain  has  to  the  un- 
doubted fact  of  tendencies  toward  physical 
deterioration,  it  is  on  the  verge  of  an 
awakening.  The  public  school  is  the  nat- 
ural medium  for  the  spread  of  better  ideals, 
and  if  the  teachers  of  cooking  and  of 
hygiene  would  cooperate  and  use  all  the 
material  which  sanitary  science  is  heaping 
on  the  table  before  them  we  should  soon 
see  a  betterment  of  physical  status.  Com- 
bined with  medical  inspection  and  sanitary 
construction  of  schoolhouses,  this  would 
raise  the  general  health  of  the  community 
thirty  or  forty  per  cent  in  five  years  and 
fifty  to  seventy  per  cent  in  ten  years. 

The  statistics  of  medical  inspection  in 
public  schools  tell  a  pitiful  tale  wherever  it 
has  been  tried:  thirty  or  forty  per  cent  of 
the  children  are  found  with  defective  or  dis- 
eased eyes,  ten  to  twenty  per  cent  with  dis- 
torted spines,  fifteen  per  cent  with  throat 
and  nose  trouble,  all  of  which  directly  affect 
their  intellectual  proficiency. 


The  Art  of  Rif^ht  Living  37 

When  these  deficiencies  are  discovered 
and  reported  to  the  parents,  such  is  the 
apathy  or  disbelief  that  seventy-five  per  cent 
of  the  cases  usually  go  unattended  to ;  there- 
fore the  school  nurse,  who  follows  the  case 
home  and  explains  the  needs  and  sets  forth 
the  penalties,  has  become  a  necessity. 

Most  of  the  teaching  may  be  by  indirect 
methods,  illustrations,  and  therefore  it  is 
that  the  various  facts  about  foods,  cleanli- 
ness, dirt,  infection,  and  personal  methods  in 
eating,  sleeping,  exercising,  etc.,  offer  such  a 
good  medium  for  the  inculcation  of  kabiis 
while  the  child  is  yet  plastic  and  takes  as 
readily  as  bad  ones  the  good  methods  we 
may  present.  This  is  economic,  for  then  he 
does  not  have  to  struggle  to  unlearn  before 
he  can  adopt  new  ways. 

We  hear  much  of  the  need  of  educating 
the  child  for  life,  but  little  or  nothing  of 
teaching  him  to  live  so  that  the  life  may  be 
worth  living.  'Tis  true,  more  is  the  pity, 
that  this  is  not  recognized  by  the  parent; 
but  if  the  value  of  each  individual  to  the 
state  is  such  as  to  warrant  the  spending  of 
ten  to  fifty  dollars  a  year  on  each  little  for- 
eigner born  on  our  shores,  it  is  worth  a  few 


38  The  Art  of  Right  Living 

cents  more  to  teach  him  so  to  live  that  he 
may  add  to  her  resources. 

It  is  of  use  to  teach  the  children  of  the 
present  school  age,  so  that  in  turn  they  may 
bring  up  their  children  in  a  better  way,  and 
so  that  when  they  become  taxpayers  they 
will  see  the  value  of  this  sort  of  instruction 
sufficiently  clearly  to  sustain  it. 

Therefore  the  fourth  R  —  right  living  — 
may  well  be  included  among  the  necessities 
of  education,  although  the  science  is  hardly 
sufficiently  advanced  as  yet  to  be  taught 
directly. 

There  is  a  certain  modicum  of  hygiene 
already  in  the  schools,  but  it  is  not  closely 
enough  related  to  the  food  habits,  or  to  the 
ideals  and  aims  of  the  pupil,  to  affect  the 
daily  life.  Give  a  child  an  end  for  which 
to  work,  and  he  will  willingly  bend  his 
energies  to  the  task. 

As  was  said  in  the  beginning,  domestic 
science  teachers  have  here  a  great  oppor- 
tunity to  show  a  justification  for  their  work 
in  the  elementary  schools.  It  is  much  easier 
to  teach  sanitary  as  well  as  moral  lessons 
indirectly  but  impressively  by  examples 
taken  from  the  familiar  things  of  every-day 
experience. 


The  Art  of  Right  Living  39 

And  this  brinsrs  up  the  fact  that  social 
Laws  ...  t>      r 

conditions,    transportation,    tenement 

crowding,  police  regulations,  labor  problems, 
building  laws,  etc.,  are  only  partly  under  in- 
dividual control,  but  they  are  wholly  a  matter 
for  regulation  by  the  community,  made  up 
of  individuals  whose  consensus  of  opinion 
rules. 

The  greater  the  number  of  individuals 
well  informed  as  to  these  questions,  the 
easier  for  a  group,  large  or  small,  to  live 
up  to  their  best  ideals. 

Instruction  in  the  use  of  what  may  be 
called  large  tools  of  community  life  should 
surely  find  a  place  in  the  common  school 
curriculum. 

How  can  unknown  laws  be  obeyed }  Why 
blame  the  newcomer  for  ignorance  of  street 
cleaning  ? 

What  shall  the  state  or  city  government 
do  and  what  must  we  do  for  ourselves }  One 
of  the  most  serious  problems  today  is  for 
people  to  see  that  they  pay  something  for 
free  schools  and  free  roads,  for  parks,  water 
works,  etc.,  that  these  are  maintained  in 
order  that  all  may  have  a  better  chance  to 
live   effective   lives.      It   is   now   seen   that 


40  The  Art  of  Right  Living 

labor  and  force  may  be  saved  for  each 
farmer  who  comes  in  twenty  miles  over  a 
good  road  instead  of  a  bad  one.  Time  and 
the  strength  of  the  team  are  saved,  and  a 
greater  load  is  brought  to  market.  Each 
family  using  a  good  city  water  supply  saves 
time  and  cost  of  single  wells  or  cisterns,  to 
say  nothing  of  doctors'  bills. 

Public  improvements  make  a  distinct 
saving  for  all  the  community,  of  course 
more  abundantly  for  those  who  use  most 
freely,  but  they  belong  to  all.  Hence  a 
general  responsibility  for  care  and  conser- 
vation must  be  developed.  It  is  of  first 
importance  to  have  this  appreciated  by  the 
taxpayer;  responsibility  for  the  homes  will 
follow  this  education  in  public  affairs. 

Legal  ejiactmeiit  is  one  of  the  best  means 
of  educating  ignorant,  careless  citizens,  but 
in  order  to  have  them  feel  that  it  is  for  their 
good,  and  not  a  matter  of  oppression,  it  is 
necessary  to  have  a  sanitary  inspector  who 
can  explain  the  reasons  and  expound  the 
means  of  conforming  to  the  laws.  In  a  few 
enlightened  cities,  women  inspectors  are 
making  progress  in  enforcing  better  living 
conditions.      If   the  idea   could   be   started 


The  Art  of  Right  Living  41 

early  in  the  history  of  smaller  towns,  it 
would  do  more  than  anything  else  to  keep 
the  soil  and  water  supply  from  becoming 
hopelessly  contaminated. 

"  Scare  "  is  a  good  thing  rightly  used,  and 
better  food  laws  and  better  enforcement  of 
them  may  be  obtained  by  the  publicity 
given  to  cases  of  poisoning,  for  if  we  do  not 
care  enough  about  our  own  laws  to  make 
them  obeyed,  we  cannot  blame  the  ignorant 
foreigner. 

As  to  food  adulterations,  there  is  knowl- 
edge enough  today  available  to  give  us  bet- 
ter materials,  and  it  behooves  all  teachers  of 
domestic  science  to  familiarize  themselves 
with  the  publications  of  their  own  local 
board  of  health,  their  own  state,  and  of  the 
United  States  government.  Such  a  volume 
as  that  of  Mr.  Albert  E.  Leach  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts State  Food  Laboratory  should  be 
in  every  high  school  library  and  be  freely 
consulted  by  the  teachers  of  both  chemistry 
and  domestic  science. 

A  large  portion  of  our  population  live  in 
isolated  situations,  where  each  person  is  a  law 
unto  himself.  It  has  been  the  habit  of  edu- 
cators to  devote  the  short  terms  of  the  rural 


42  The  Art  of  Right  Living 

schools  to  mental  gymnastics  and  intellec- 
tual training  rather  than  to  lessons  in  the 
use  of  materials  at  hand  for  better  living, 
or  to  lessons  in  the  care  of  home  sur- 
roundings. But  why  should  this  one-sided 
education  be  continued  in  the  face  of  the 
knowledge,  piling  up  mountain  high,  of  the 
danger  of  living  in  the  midst  of  one's  own 
waste  ? 

The  rural  school  offers  a  great  field  for 
teaching  the  principles  of  better  living,  since 
examples  of  animal  and  vegetable  life  abound 
and  space  for  experiments  is  at  hand. 

America  must  follow  England  in  teaching 
elementary  agricultural  art,  for  instance,  a 
few  facts  about  rock  and  soil,  the  properties 
of  clay,  sand,  and  earth  with  reference  to  the 
disposal  of  refuse,  for  the  farmhouse  well  is 
a  menace  not  to  be  tolerated  now  that  its 
dangers  are  known ;  no  elaborate  treatise 
on  plumbing  to  be  used,  but  a  few  illustra- 
tions in  the  course  of  a  physical  geography 
lesson,  such  as  may  be  given  with  a  bottom- 
less bottle  inverted  on  a  support.  A  little 
cotton  wool  in  the  neck,  or  a  piece  of  cheese 
cloth  tied  over  the  mouth,  will  serve  as  a 
support  for  sand   or  clay  or  loam   through 


The  Art  of  Rii^ht  Living  43 

which  liquids  will  percolate  fast  or  slowly, 
according  to  the  nature  of  both.  Mixed 
with  a  little  dyestuff  or  ink  the  water  will 
lose  color  in  passing  through  some  soils,  but 
not  when  filtered  through  clean  quartz  sand. 
This  illustrates  the  principle  of  purification 
of  polluted  water  by  passage  through  a  suit- 
able soil  and  the  lack  of  it  if  the  soil  is 
not  suitable. 

A  few  illustrations  showing  how  infec- 
tion is  carried  and  of  the  use  of  disinfectants 
will  save  hundreds  of  lives  in  our  rural 
communities. 

It  is  a  curious  superstition,  this  conserv- 
atism of  the  school  men  in  regard  to  what 
it  is  permissible  to  teach.  In  the  fear  of 
materialism,  they  go  so  far  as  to  neglect  the 
resources  developed  before  their  very  eyes 
for  the  promotion  of  health  and  efhciency. 

If  all  our  schoolhouses  were  built  and 
cared  for  as  well  as  the  present  state  of 
scientific  knowledge  permits,  the  efificiency 
of  the  children  now  usinor  them  would  be 
raised  two  hundred  per  cent  in  ten  years' 
time.  In  our  zeal  for  the  mind,  we  have 
starved  and  dwarfed  the  body. 


44  The  Art  of  Right  Living 

An  enthusiasm  for  health  must  be 
aroused  by  some  means  if  an  effec- 
tive human  Hfe  is  to  be  maintained  in  the 
midst  of  the  increasing  menaces  to  its  full 
perfection. 

Not  only  personal  knowledge  and  belief 
are  to  be  promoted,  but  a  social  control  is 
to  be  maintained.  The  community  as  a 
whole  is  to  work  tosfcther,  to  subordinate 
individual  preferences  to  the  general  good. 
Cooperation  in  sanitary  matters  is  necessary 
if  the  expense  of  decent  living  is  not  to 
become  too  great  to  be  borne.  The  great- 
est municipal  and  domestic  cost  is  now 
that  of  keeping  clean.  Abundance  of  water, 
good  drainage,  clean  streets,  good  ventila- 
tion, sanitary  markets,  are  demanding  a 
larger  per  cent  of  income  yearly.  Probably 
half  the  expense  might  be  saved  if  children 
were  taught  to  take  care  of  the  apparatus 
in  use  and  to  put  refuse  in  the  proper 
receptacles. 

The  streets  are  full  of  litter  which  should 
never  have  reached  them,  and  which  costs 
to  sweep  up.  Half  the  water  is  wasted, 
half  the  plumbing  in  houses  gets  out  of 
order  because  children  and  servants  throw 


The  Art  of  Right  Living  45 

rolls  of  hair,  match  ends,  and  the  like  into 
the  hopper. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  go  further  into 
details.  Each  one  can  use  numerous  illus- 
trations to  show  that  much  of  the  increased 
cost  of  living  is  due  to  carelessness  —  to  the 
making  of  work. 

Responsibility  for  things  as  well  as  for 
the  care  of  one's  own  person  is  a  needed 
lesson.  If  the  home  does  not  teach  this, 
the  school  must,  and  again  we  say  that  in 
the  manual  training  and  domestic  science 
departments  this  comes  naturally  and  easily, 
and  should  be  insisted  upon. 

It  is  not  exalting  the  material,  it  is  putting 
it  under  our  feet  as  a  safe  foundation  upon 
which  to  build  our  own  welfare. 

It  is  marvelous,  in  our  eyes,  to  see  the 
power  men  have  gained  over  the  forces  of 
nature,  but  it  is  by  patient  self-control  that 
they  have  given  us  this  power. 

The  moment  a  user  of  this  power  loses 
a  grain  of  his  own  nerve,  things  come  to 
grief  —  a  crash  of  the  trolley,  an  overturn 
of  the  automobile. 

Some  must  suffer  that  the  majority  may 
live.     Disaster  awakens   attention,    but   we 


46  The  Art  of  Right  Living 

should  study  conditions  and  apply  the 
remedy  before  the  disaster. 

Man  has  power  to  study,  to  devise  new 
ways  of  gaining  his  objects,  but  he  must  have 
a  clearly  defined  object  to  gain.  Genius  is 
power  in  a  single  direction,  not  well  bal- 
anced, and  may  exist  in  an  ill-nourished 
body,  but  it  is  not  safe  for  any  one  of  us  to 
twist  his  nerves  in  the  hope  of  becoming  a 
genius. 

In  cities,  public  opinion  for  good  water, 
furnishing  of  safe  water  to  drink  in  public 
places,  is  one  of  the  best  evidences  of  civic 
improvement. 

Every  town  should  secure  good  plumbing 
laws,  for  there  is  always  danger  in  unseen 
machinery  —  pipes  once  put  into  a  house  we 
are  apt  to  feel  secure.  I  hold  that  a  woman 
should  not  shrink  from  understanding  all 
the  machinery  of  the  house.  There  should 
be  an  accessible  plan  of  the  pipes  and  where 
they  go,  especially  in  an  old  house.  All 
metal  is  liable  to  be  eaten  through,  to  give 
way  suddenly.  The  joints  are  liable  to  start 
away.  Cracks  come  if  joints  are  puttied, 
which  they  should  not  be. 

We  react  to  environment,  hence  we  must 


The  Art  of  Right  Liviiig  47 

act  upon  it  to  make  it  satisfactory.  Since 
the  future  depends  upon  the  children  it 
behooves  us  to  see  to  it  they  have  a  fair 
chance.  Dirt  and  disease  threaten  us  with 
deterioration. 

Dr.  Chadwick,  father  of  sanitation,  taught 
that  it  was  possible  to  get  behind  the  disease 
to  the  causes  that  led  up  to  it,  but  still  the 
sanitarian  complains  that  people  won't  be- 
lieve. Let  us  turn  to  the  faith  of  the  child 
in  what  he  is  taught  as  our  hope  for  the 
future. 

The  great  struggle  lies  with  matter  in  the 
wrong  place  —  garbage,  flies,  mosquitoes,  etc. 
—  and  as  population  becomes  denser,  with 
crime  and  death  rate.  Our  great  lessons 
in  the  possibility  of  reform  are  Panama  and 
Cuba  and  India.  Native  religion  is  the 
greatest  hindrance  in  many  lands.  Here 
it  should  be  the  greatest  help.  Neverthe- 
less, every  state  in  the  Union  has  plague 
spots  as  deadly  as  any  a  traveler  has 
described. 

How  can  we  make  the  people  believe 
that  it  lies  in  their  own  hands.''  that  a 
sallow  complexion  and  lack-luster  eyes  are 
due  to  food  and  not  to  climate.-^  that  list- 


48  The  Art  of  Right  Living 

lessness  and  pain  are  not  inherited?  Only 
by  adding  this  fourth  R  —  the  art  of  right 
living  —  to  the  school  curriculum  and  teach- 
ing every  child  the  means  of  making  himself 
an  efficient  human  being. 

Adaptation  to  environment  is  the  great 
need  of  the  American  today ;  and  shall  we, 
who  boast  that  we  outdo  the  world  with 
our  mechanical  devices,  stop  short  of  at 
least  a  long  step  toward  the  production  of 
a  better  race? 


SUMMARY 

Life  should  yield  results;  products  of  work  done; 
of  life  lived  ;  man  should  not  "  cumber  "  the  ground. 

The  efficient  human  being  lives  for  himself,  for 
society,  for  the  race. 

How  he  is  made  effective.  Will  power  is  exerted 
on  material  things  by  his  well-balanced  body  and  by 
reason  of  his  sound  knowledge.  He  sleeps,  eats, 
works,  plays  —  all  in  a  wholesome  environment.  We 
know  that  every  plant  or  animal  requires  this,  and  man 
is  no  exception. 

Food,  limitations  of;  danger  in  excess.  Assimila- 
tion, not  ingestion,  the  test ;  auto-infection  ;  sterility  of 
the  overfed  plant  or  animal ;  moral  deterioration. 

Sleep,  need  for  ;  habits  in  to  be  cultivated. 

Exercise,  physical  need  for ;  dangers  in  excess. 
Food  must  be  carried  to  the  living  cell  and  waste 
removed,  ashes  shaken  from  the  fire,  to  permit  full 
nutrition. 

Amusements  in  relation  to  health.  Forget  self ; 
exert  self  unconsciously ;  permit  functions  to  go  on 
without  watching.     Companionship,  force  of  example. 

Work.  Life  to  be  rightly  lived  requires  a  personal 
aim,  a  resolute  purpose,  incentive  to  exertion,  to  self- 
culture,  to  self-sacrifice  —  all  tending  to  health. 

Environment  of  human  life.  Climate  not  under  our 
control,  we  must  adapt  our  habits  to  it.  Food,  cloth- 
ing, exercise  varied  to  suit;  soil  and  habitations  im- 
49 


50 


The  Art  of  Right  Living 


proved  by  engineering.  Social  conditions  partially 
under  individual,  wholly  under  community,  control  — 
labor  problems,  building  laws,  crowding  in  cities, 
transportation.  Care  of  food,  shelter  and  sanitation, 
in  the  main,  under  personal  control.  See  that  they 
are  all  right  for  success  in  life. 

Education  in  these  directions  the  most  important 
school  topic.  Right  habits  should  come  early.  Knowl- 
edge to  be  given  to  the  pupil  as  fast  as  substantiated 
by  scientific  investigation.  Thereby  lives  are  saved, 
the  state  is  enriched,  general  happiness  is  promoted. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.00  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


pmf.M  Wf^^Wi  (i,WfS,'s,!?iv 


OCT    7 196^- 
SEP  2  6  1963  ■ 


■^ 


^RuftEkiimv  ii^. 


FtB  1  8  198Z 


IIM!V.  OF  CV.!F 


'M 


■ffC  PUBl.  mion 


BR  '  1  m 


MAY  0  8  2000 


m\!  2  S  2007 


LD  21-100m-12,'43  (8796s) 


U.C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


CDa234t,5^T 


ill 
iiiili 


